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EverQuest II: Re-Review

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Comments

  • TyrranosaurTyrranosaur Member UncommonPosts: 284
    Originally posted by shrunken_man

    Well I agree with much of what this review has to say. When I first tried EQ2 I was on the fence about it. It launched buggy, was laggy and put my computer through its paces. I think I also expected it to be more like EQ1 at the time, just with better graphics. The game mechanics (combat, obtaining spells/skills, only two starting cities, etc) just seemed a little too different at the time. I have to admit that WoW seemed a lot more familiar to me, and was easy to get into. I didn't mind the cartoon look, because it was well directed and made sense. So I put EQ2 on the shelf and dedicated play time to WoW. Well, I slowly starting becoming more and more bored with WoW. And I didn't find the community all that great to be honest. Mostly people who'd rather insult and gank you than work cooperatively toward anything. I thought the community would get better, or I'd just have to hook up with the right people. Never happened. An excellent game nontheless for what it is. When Vanguard came close to release I knew this would have the right community for me, and I was excited because it looked amazing and appeared to have a lot of depth. I even got invited to beta in the final stages, whoo-hoo! Except, I couldn't run it very well. Even after it released I relunctantly bought it, and still can't run it well. I'm still excited for it, but I think it's launch is a lot like EQ2's was initially. So on the shelf it goes for now. So, having heard sooo much about how EQ2 has changed, I decided to blow the dust off my account and give it a second chance. I'm far enough past the EQ1 days that there's no more comparison there. First of all, I was surprised at how well the game runs now. I don't have what would be considered all that great of a system (2600 Barton, 1.5GB RAM, x1300 graphics) but it runs and looks great on balanced settings. Next I found it extremely fun and addictive. I didn't think I would, but it's got that X-factor now, if you know what I mean. And much to my surprise, I fell into a really nice guild with some nice people who've answered all my newbie questions and we're polite and helpful. And I've only been back for about a week now. I'm slowly learning about all the different levels of depth the game has, and it goes pretty deep, so I don't think I'll become as bored as I did in WoW. And I haven't even considered any of the expansions yet, I'm just playing the core game. If you've had your fill of other MMO's like I have, or you're frustrated with Vanguard like me, or you just didn't find the LOTR online beta compelling like me, then I think you'll be surprised by EQ2 and how its come around.

     

    I've had a similar experience. I got in to WoW and EQ2 at roughly the same time (WoW first, then tried EQ2 on release) but found it just a bit much. Now, two years later WoW is a tired old game, and when I picked up the Faedwyr expansion for EQ2 I was stunned at the potential depth and involvement that EQ2 had over WoW. To me, EQ2 feels like a natural evolution in MMO game design, a spiritual successor to the paper and pencil days of D&D gaming. WoW just feels like Diablo 3 to me now.

    Given that EQ2 proved so interesting when I was ready for it (and my system runs it just fine: Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz 1 MB ram, Geforce 7300 GS card), I plan to check out Vanguard in another six months to a year or so, too. By that time it'll probably be running smoothly enough that I can appreciate it, as well, without too much frustration.

    Current MMOs: Rift, GW2, Defiance
    Blog: http://realmsofchirak.blogspot.com (old school tabletop gaming and more)

  • TyrranosaurTyrranosaur Member UncommonPosts: 284
    Originally posted by lancelot76

    A few good points, but statements like:



     "At release, the graphics were somewhat shadowed by its competitor World of Warcraft, but with the latest expansion the graphics were given a boost, and are now up to par with its counterpart"



    Betray a severe lack of understanding or familiarity with this game. The graphics were not "given a boost" with the latest expansion, there was no update to the engine, etc. Statements like this make this article opinion at best, and at worst, a waste of time. To the author: either learn more about the game or interview people who do.



    I was under the impression that the game might provide a wider range of support for different machines and graphics cards than a release. It still looks about like it did on my older system, for example, but runs more smoothly. On my newer system it is very nice looking, of course, and I've yet to experience any lag.

    But saying that it's graphics were inferior to WoW at release is odd, I agree, as even on lower settings EQ2 looked better than WoW. Hmmm.

    Current MMOs: Rift, GW2, Defiance
    Blog: http://realmsofchirak.blogspot.com (old school tabletop gaming and more)

  • JeanneJeanne Member UncommonPosts: 22

    Everquest 2 is good game that has become far better , as it has evolved. I strongly recommend playing it or at least trying the free trial versions of it.  

     

    I have played EQ2 on and off since the game launched . I only got seriously into it (my main lvl 35 hooray) though.

    Everquest 2 offers a great many things, from character creation with its many races , classes and almost endless posibilities in making your character unique. To large zones, great deal of lore and fun gameplay (fun gameplay in my eyes at least).

    I have never tried the PvP part of the game, as PvP has never really interested me. Hell I even play WoW just for questing and exploring. But from what I have heard, PvP is getting better ingame, although I think that since EQ 2 have always been mostly a PvE game , there are other games that does this better.

     

    The lore , the music, the pure atmosphere is why I like Everquest 2 so much. Although I play other MMOs frequently ( WoW, DDO, Vanguard, CoH/V, GW, LOTRO beta, Lineage 2 to name some of them) . I

     

    I think Everquest 2 is my favourite, for many reasons, some reasons for prefering it to WoW are the language /grouping restrictions between factions in WoW, even on PvE servers,that annoys me a bit, have to use teamspeak to talk to players of the other faction..

    I guess that is RvR , but on a PvE server? Thought the Alliance and the Horde were good buddies these days anyway. For all the RvR stuff in WoW I still find it a great game that has a lot to offer all kinds of players.

     Vanguard is just not polished enough to run comfortable on my system, and still has a bit to many bugs, Still a great game though, that is why I play it now and then, it is only going to get better I know it.

    DDO feels restricting, but is fun when played in periods with friends. S

    The game is hard to run smoothly at the highest settings. Still have not upgraded my system so I am running, and XP 2400, 1,5 G RAM .  Radeon X800 GT. A modest system in my eyes, but it runs the game smoothly at balanced settings.

    Highest settings should demand a high end system.

    I enjoy the MMORPG type of games more than any other type of games, (OK so Baldurs`s gate series, NWN, Torment, Arcanum ,Fallout score really high). I play World of Warcraft, only recently really got into it, it is a great game, and its graphics makes it stand out, and serves it well. I also play 6 other MMOs from time to time, the rest of the SOE games, NC soft games, DDO, LOTRO

  • eburneburn Member Posts: 740
    Originally posted by heerobya


    "the best MMO out there" eh?
    why only a 7.9 then? many other MMO's are rated higher on this site, yet you give EQ2 a 7.9 and claim it's the best MMO out there.
    How much did Sony pay you to say that?
    What's funny, you always see advertisements for EQ or Eve or Vanguard on sites like MMORPG.com and they always get the BEST review, oops I meant most biased reviews.
    Yet everyone here hates WoW and they don't directly advertise here or on any major gaming website... strange...
    "Just because more people play WoW then every other major MMO combined doesn't mean it's the best."
    No, it's all personal preference. But, if that many people love it (me being one of them) they have to be doing something right. I honestly haven't seen this site come up with an un-biased review in quite some time... budget getting a little tight?
    i'm probably going to get banned for this lol. oh well, freedom of speech!
    Yawn, working hard to play a dying game for free aren't they?



    I made the mistake of going back and the game has changed. It has, but not for the better.

    If you hate WoW then you have to hate EQ2. It's best points now are just standard in most other MMOs. Sure the graphics are pretty and it performs well even on a 6800 based machine. Indeed, it does. There's just hardly any game play to it and the quests are so repeative.

    The lack of choice and the fact your hand is held all the way through EQ2 and WoW is what makes them blow ass. Stop supporting cookie cutter companies folks. You'll just encourage them to keep doing the same..

    "Oh it looks pretty and I can play pretty for years." "How does it actually play tho'?" "PRETTY I SAID! It's pretty!"

    I kill other players because they're smarter than AI, sometimes.

  • RazorbackRazorback Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 5,253

    Nice write up....

    But...

    Is it really necessary to bash WoW in order to blow up another game ?

    Im 41 y/o this year and I only recently stopped playing WoW. I was not the oldest person in my guild (oldest was 53) and as far as maturity goes, we had some 13 year olds that acted with far more maturity and skill than some of the 25 y/o. This constant generalistion about WoW being for kids and kids being too immature to add enjoyment to an MMO for other players is both poorly researched and a generally poorly thought out point of view.

    WoW does not equal : Kids game

    Kids do not equal : immaturity

    They are both generalisations that are more often than not, completely wrong.

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  • smartkidzsmartkidz Member Posts: 252
    I don't feel like joining in on the arguments before my post on this thread. So i'm just gonna say it's a great review. Just don't name names like that (WoW and VSoH). It fuels the trolls to start something. But altogether it is a great review.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    =The best bash.org quote ever=
    Curt teh Juggler: our graduation ceremony was today, and right when some gamer nerd got his diploma, someone in the audience played the zelda "get item" music and he did the zelda spin-hold-out-item stance
    Curt teh Juggler: it was quite possibly the most amazing thing ever.

  • checkthis500checkthis500 Member Posts: 1,236
    Originally posted by lancelot76

    A few good points, but statements like:



     "At release, the graphics were somewhat shadowed by its competitor World of Warcraft, but with the latest expansion the graphics were given a boost, and are now up to par with its counterpart"



    Betray a severe lack of understanding or familiarity with this game. The graphics were not "given a boost" with the latest expansion, there was no update to the engine, etc. Statements like this make this article opinion at best, and at worst, a waste of time. To the author: either learn more about the game or interview people who do.
    I read that and probably made the same face you made.  I kind of turned my head at an angle, squinted up my face, and went "wh-wh-what?"



    I don't think anyone can say with a straight face that the graphical quality of WoW ever even touched the hem of EQ2's pants, much less shadowed it.  Perhaps the "style" of WoW is better, but not the graphics in general.



    EQ2 immerses you in a world that's realistic, and WoW immerses you in their RTS of low poly-counts and horribly placed objects (I mention the objects a lot, but it bothers me a lot and shows a lack of attention to detail). 



    The only thing I will say that WoW had and still has on EQ2 was the griffon flights.  EQ2's griffon was horribly animated and the flight path was not very well-done, whereas WoW's griffon rides are enjoyable (until you do it for the umpteenth time).



    Aside from the graphical comment, everything else seemed to be how I remember it. :)  Good review overall.  Short and to the point.

    ---------------------------------------------
    I live to fight, and fight to live.

  • brostynbrostyn Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 3,092
    Seems like a very biased review. I tried to play EQ2 a couple of times. Once at launch, again after a few months, and yet again with EoF. The game is severely lacking. Obviously, I'm not the only one to think this as the servers have merged, and the servers are still quite empty.



     I just couldn't play a game that couldn't decide whether it wanted to enforce grouping, or strongly encourage soloing. If there was an interesting storyline I could see myself playing. Its essentially a solo player game, but you are expected to grind for no reason. Add a damn storyline in.
  • VesaviusVesavius Member RarePosts: 7,908

    Originally posted by Settingsun

    I played for a while when it first came out. I hated the ai. I hated how there was no pulling and even one mob 20 feet away would pull over the whole group.

    Yeah, I didnt like this either at the beginning, but it's different now, with body pulling etc necessary to be a skillfull puller.

    I hated how there were these huge arrows above the mobs.

    You would still hate this I guess...

    I hated that when I was 19 lvl I could kill a mob a few levels higher then me, but when I turned 20 those same mobs killed me easy.

    I have no experience of this personally... You are saying the *same* mobs were harder to kill at L20 then at L19? I have never had this problem or complaint myself.

    I hated how so much of the game needed a group. Even things like level quests couldn't often be done by yourself depending on your class.

    Well, this *is* a group orientated MMORPG and as such asks for social networking skills, community, and team based co-operation, but if you can't/ won't buy into that then you should know the solo content has been bossted massively since the days you played. If you want to pay a montly sub to play solo, then it is very possible. Personally, I would rather just buy Oblivion or whatever...



    The whole interconnected crafting thing I hated.

    This is no longer the case. Crafting is no longer interconnected and is much more a solo affair now. Personally, I think this has been a bad thing for the crafting community, but I guess it solves your persoanl issue.

    I hated having to go poor trying to level in crafting and needed a group or alts to make all the different parts for an item.

    I don't know many crafters who go poor at all these days... As for having alts to make different parts of an item.. well.. I think the hope was that you would be part of the community and trade and barter for the parts you needed off other crafters. It's that social networking and team work thing again... I guess some people can't handle having to deal with others in a massively multiplayer co-operative game. You should know though that the craft system is very different since the days you played, with all the different parts you made alts for now no needed. You can solo craft with ease.

    I hated how the devs kept making crafting more about randomness and less about any input effect the player might have on it.

    I'm not sure what you mean here... Sure, theres a random base to crafting, it would be silly not to have it, but you have always had the ability to influence it for the better by using craft skills within the process... Are you saying you don't want a random element to crafting?

    I hated the whole need to buy drops to raise your spells and specials to their best every few levels, and how the ones that were crafted were crap.

    Why wouldnt you need to raise your skills/ spells every few lvls if you wanted to be the best you could be? I'm confused again. Personally, I love the whole spell/ skill gain systen in EQ2... It gives you the basic spell so noone is under powered, and then gives you the option of upgrading to whatever. if you choose and can afford it. It's simple and elegant imho.

    As for crafted spells being crap, well last time I heard Adept III spells/ skills were crafted and these are only 1 below Master level.. How are these crap?

    Grind grind grind, that is what it was all about.

    I never grind, I level exclusively through doing quests. I guess you *can* grind if you choose, but I chose not to. Questing gives xp and AAs and is a very viable play style. I ahve certainly never felt pressure to grind at all.

    I hated how Paladins got a speed boost at 20 from a little spell that was suppose to be just a fluff thing then have the devs post that such a boost was minor (when it wasn't) and did no harm (when it did)., until months later when they finally said oops.

    Yes, they said oops, and changed it. Whats the ongoing problem here? The issue was fixed a long long time ago...

    So many things I hated about that game. I have not played any other mmo which I left with a more bitter and annoyed feeling.

    Yeah, so much hate...

    You obviously left EQ2 a long time ago and it's definitly not the same experience that it was when when you played.  Maybe it's time to let go of the anger and realise not everything stays the same and opinions/ views can become outdated. I'm not asking you to give EQ2 another chance or anything, but please realise that this isnt the same game it was on release, for better or worse depending on personal preference.

  • vajurasvajuras Member Posts: 2,860

    I left because EQ2 didnt have pvp at launch and I didnt want to craft the spell scrolls. my best friend and I got lost at lvl 18 didnt know where we were supposed to go. we went to antonica and got so lost. didnt like how the city was instanced and all the mob areas was instanced - did they fix that? liked the graphics and music score and the way NPCs talked. loved newbie zone (that starting area) to death. was confused- was a wood elf but never saw this forest i came from supposedly is that there now. had a lot of neat lore.

     

    I read the crafting was fixed and they have pvp now. but seeing how unbalanced City of Heroes turned out to be by adding pvp as an afterthought I am not convinced its going to be fun pvp quite yet. and this armor and tokens you get is it the 'best' loot? I guess I'm going to have to sit it out til WAR comes out. But if all i did was PvE I'd come back for sure

  • ChubbsChubbs Member UncommonPosts: 9
    This reviewer seems to have gotten some things wrong or missed certain key things:



    1. None of the expansions upgraded the graphics. Yes the graphics are "different" and well done(echoes) but not "upgraded". There has not been a graphics upgrade expansion and if there was it would most likely make the game run even worse than it does atm. In the end the graphics in the game(models and freeport art design)are decent at most. Yes SOGA models help but 60% of equipment in the game is downright ugly and looked like an attempt to show off pixel shaders.



    2. "Perhaps they might add an option to do a solo version of some of the quests?" - If you ran out of solo quests then you are clearly not looking around. I didn't start running out of solo quests til around 50 and I mostly have exp turned off. Heroic quests are there for higher difficulty and higher reward(but many can be soloed when green).



    3. In the same paragraph: "The only suggestion would be that lower level characters try to find a guild that also has lots of lower levels in its ranks." It looks like the reviewer wrote this previously to learning of mentoring.



    4. The reviewer mentioned nothing about the quality of past Live Updates. Each one is fairly significant in making the game more enjoyable, whereas it's rare to see game modifying updates in other MMO's.



    5. This rating system seems odd.. 9 graphics/fun/sound/role playing, 8 value, 10 community, 5 performance, 4 service = 7.9 ?

    Is it just me or is performance and service modifying the score too much?
  • gozzgullgozzgull Member Posts: 71
    Ok seriously, I can play the game on high with my x800, but I've got 4 gigs of ram and a x2 amd.  So this guy has to be full of it if I can run it on "Very High" with no lag cept for cities. (Mainly near the brokers and such)
  • secrativegirsecrativegir Member Posts: 1

    great review! this is the first time i have ever completely agreed with the reveiwer on a game - with the exception of one statement. i do not think EQ2 was lagging behind WoW in appearence in the beginning. i think the quality of EQ2's graphics blew away WoW right out of the box. i don't think alot of people realize there is a difference between quality and a style preference. most players (*cough kids*) seem to prefer the "smurfy" cartoon style of  WoW over the more realistic landscapes of EQ2. however EoF has a more cartoony look, so it's nice that they have added some variety in thier style.

    EDIT: oh and i guess i disagree with one other statement. i never had a problem finding soloalbe qeusts until i got to the higher levels. there are tons of soloable quests. i always had more soloable quests than i could complete before they became worthless. i deleted at least as many as i completed.

  • Mattbell69Mattbell69 Member UncommonPosts: 58

    This whole WoW - EQ2 bashing thing is ridiculous. The reviewer made a comment, a comment that was his opinion. The fact that we now have people flaming each other on comparison is silly.

    This is a review of EQ2, how it is NOW, how it runs NOW and what he felt about the game NOW. If you didn't like it back when it started fine, but he is making comments about it's state of play NOW.

    I play EQ2, BUT I also play many other MMO's. But I am not going to list them for a comparison war. Instead I am going to comment on the review in hand.

    I do think EQ2 has got better since launch. It's a far better, well rounded game that has a great level of detail to it, especially after the expansion packs have been added. The changes that the EQ2 SOE team have done have been implemented well with very little downtime to the players.

    As for hardware, I have a good PC, but not as good as the reviewer. Mine runs fine in High Quality, through Qeynos Harbor and only on Raids do I need to drop the graphics down to balanced. This does seem that there is a problem with his setup. Drivers or even Windows maybe a little screwed. But again I am not going to flame hardware. I don't confess to be a self proclaimed GPU expert!

    Finally, I've been playing EQ2 (along with other MMO's) for 2+ years and probably will still play EQ2 (and others MMO's) as I find this to be a very good game with a great community. Well done to the EverQuest II SOE team.

  • dogsaladdogsalad Member Posts: 2

    Me and a few friends are looking for something new.  We thought we might want to take another look at EQ2 (played it in beta, briefly).

    Here are the things that made us not want to play the game in retail:

    1.  Locked encounters.  Not being able to assist someone when they're about to die was just rediculous.

    2.  Shared XP loss.  If someone in your group died, everyone lost XP.

    3.  Ceramic doll look for all the models and the ambiance of the world.  Artwork is what makes graphics nice, not poly counts.

     

    Have these areas been improved?

    A few months ago, I downloaded the trial and was thoroughly unimpressed with it... but I've been told that the trial island hasn't been updated since launch and that the game is actually fairly different, is this true?

  • flood950flood950 Member Posts: 447
    Originally posted by dogsalad


    Me and a few friends are looking for something new.  We thought we might want to take another look at EQ2 (played it in beta, briefly).
    Here are the things that made us not want to play the game in retail:
    1.  Locked encounters.  Not being able to assist someone when they're about to die was just rediculous.
    2.  Shared XP loss.  If someone in your group died, everyone lost XP.
    3.  Ceramic doll look for all the models and the ambiance of the world.  Artwork is what makes graphics nice, not poly counts.
     
    Have these areas been improved?
    I JUST picked this game up this weekend and to comment on these...I can answer two of them.



    1:  You can unlock them...if someone is in trouble there is a way to unlock it so you can get help.  Actually, I think there is even a setting so they are never locked to begin with, but I may be mistaken.  I know that I have assisted players several times by doing damage to the mob and by healing them.



    3:  The graphics were enhanced with the last expansion I have read.  They look decent to me, not the best ever, but not something I would complain about either.



    I have only grouped once so far and it was briefly just to share a boss kill, so not sure about shared XP loss. 
  • LordRikerQLordRikerQ Member Posts: 2
    Seriously is this reviewer getting paid off by SOE?  The graphics for one are no where as good as Vanguard, but they are much better then Wow's Cartoonish look too.  Secondly, there is a friendly and helpful community on the fourms, but in game? A bunch of elitist high level morons, that are anything but helpful to people. And random "Guides"? I've been playing EQ2 since Desert of Ro and none of my friends or I have ever seen or much less heard of said guides.



    This re-review is BS, i hate when reviewers spew propoganda lies.
  • Mattbell69Mattbell69 Member UncommonPosts: 58
    Originally posted by dogsalad


    Me and a few friends are looking for something new.  We thought we might want to take another look at EQ2 (played it in beta, briefly).
    Here are the things that made us not want to play the game in retail:
    1.  Locked encounters.  Not being able to assist someone when they're about to die was just rediculous.
    2.  Shared XP loss.  If someone in your group died, everyone lost XP.
    3.  Ceramic doll look for all the models and the ambiance of the world.  Artwork is what makes graphics nice, not poly counts.
     
    Have these areas been improved?
    A few months ago, I downloaded the trial and was thoroughly unimpressed with it... but I've been told that the trial island hasn't been updated since launch and that the game is actually fairly different, is this true?
    Locked encounters only exist if you lock them. You can choose to lock or leave it open to help. So if that player locked his encoutner then if he dies that's that cards he drew.



    There is not shared XP loss. You dont lose XP like in Vanguard. Instead you get XP debt which must be paid off. No chasing shards or running around as a ghost. You just re-zone and start that bit again.



    The look of the game will depend greatly on your GPU and CPU. You need a decent machine. You also have to option of running a different set of models known as the SOGA models. Again you chose what you want and how they look. With the Graphics turned up to max the visual display of this game is outstanding. The 3D engine they have used is amazing. Cloth looks like and acts like cloth. Bushes move when you run through them (unlike some snow capped trees that you can pass right through). Water, moves like it should when you swim.
  • ScottAdamsScottAdams Member Posts: 14
    Originally posted by dogsalad


    Me and a few friends are looking for something new.  We thought we might want to take another look at EQ2 (played it in beta, briefly).
    Here are the things that made us not want to play the game in retail:
    1.  Locked encounters.  Not being able to assist someone when they're about to die was just rediculous.
    2.  Shared XP loss.  If someone in your group died, everyone lost XP.
    3.  Ceramic doll look for all the models and the ambiance of the world.  Artwork is what makes graphics nice, not poly counts.
     
    Have these areas been improved?
    A few months ago, I downloaded the trial and was thoroughly unimpressed with it... but I've been told that the trial island hasn't been updated since launch and that the game is actually fairly different, is this true?

    Locked encounters are totally optional now and default to being unlocked.  I know they changed the XP debt and I think it is no longer effecting the other group members. I think they changed that over a year ago. The artwork in Faydwer is fantastic. In fact you can see for yourself.

    You can try the new expansion out for yourself and see how you like it with the free trial: http://everquest2.station.sony.com/promotions/playthefae/



    M. Scott Adams, Not Dilbert, Adventure!
    http://www.msadams.com

  • CitronCitron Member Posts: 41

    What do you get when you take,

    1 cup of WOW

    2 cups of EQ

    and a pinch of Vanguard

  • dogsaladdogsalad Member Posts: 2

    Few more questions.  Forgive me if I'm a little wary... I vowed to never play another Sony MMO a few years back.

     

    Is the Trial Island an accurate representation of the full game?

    Was the whole game given some artistic upgrades or just the new Faydwer area?

    Do I need to buy the original game and the two expansions to get all the content or does the last expansion come with all the previous content?

    Downtime.  How bad is it?

    I read they added in PvP.  Is it a faction vs. faction world PvP or is it limited to instanced areas?

    What are the three best things in the game?

    What are the three worst things in the game?

  • PhoenixsPhoenixs Member Posts: 2,646
    I recently reactivated my Everquest 2 account. Vanguard made me do it This review is mostly spot on. Great value (Latest expansion with all others included), tons of content and it's quite fun.
  • GameloadingGameloading Member UncommonPosts: 14,182
    I'm sorry, but I find it difficult to take a website's reviews that scores a game with such horrible art direction as Everquest 2 a 9 in Graphics, but gives the Burning Crusade, which is WoW, which is well known for its art and detail, a 5.



    Another sentence that annoys the heck out of me is this:



    " Everquest II is very easily the best looking game currently on the market even beating out next generation mmo's like Vanguard."



    Just read that again. "Very easily". My dear Adele, please look up games such as Granado Espada, ZerA, or even older games like EVE, Lineage 2 and even WoW (all maybe not WoW, as this website is as anti-WoW as it can get), and then come back here saying Everquest 2 is "Very easily" the best looking game on the market. My problem isn't with the fact the Adele says Everquest 2 is the best looking mmorpg out there, I am not saying it isn't (nor am I saying it is, if you want my opinion on that, just ask me), my problem is the "Very easily" part. Adele is acting like Everquest 2 has no competition whatsoever in the graphic department.



    More examples are the fact that WoW received a 6 in roleplaying, but somehow, Everquest 2 deserves a 9? I am not saying that WoW didn't deserve that score, but my point is that EQ2, imo, definitly doesn't deserve a 9 if your going to give WoW a 6. Everquest 2 doesn't add that much more to roleplaying then WoW does.



    As an example that is supposed to enhance EQ2's Roleplaying part is this.





    "Just like the sound and music in a movie can change the way a viewer is feeling or help to create a scene, it can dramatically change the feeling of the mmo world. Everquest II does an excellent job of setting the mood for each of their zones. As you fight your way through places of the undead such as Stormhold or The Living Tomb, you can feel your skin crawl as the cackling of the undead echo through the air. While standing in Qeynos Harbor you fill with pride as the sound of Antonia's voice encourages you to be strong and fight the evil that has fallen upon Norrath. The quest givers each have their own voice, and even leveling has a sound. Emotes add sound as well enhancing the role-playing aspect of the game".



     But that should be taken into consideration when your judging the sound and music of the game, not the roleplaying part.



    Other examples of roleplaying are the emotes (its shorter to make a list of MMO's that doesn't have emotes), and the so called guides. In all 3 months I have played Everquest 2, I have yet to see 1 of those guides. In fact, I didn't even know they existed.



    a bit off-topic, but I find it rediculous mmorpg's get even judged on roleplaying aspects. Some MMO's like Lineage 2 and RF Online are simply not build for roleplaying. that would be like judging the RPG aspects of Counter strike and take it into consideration when giving the final score.



    Another one is the Community score. a perfect 10? are you kidding me? are you going to tell me there is not a single bastard, annoying kiddy, or "Go-back-to-WoW elitist?" let us stay realistic here. Funny thing is in the part talking about the community, it mentions this: "It has found what World of Warcraft is lacking: Adults". Nice going, lets attack a diffrent game in a game's review. absolutely amazing. there are plenty of other Games with even far more immature communities, such as Guild Wars or actually pretty much every free to play mmorpg out there, but No, we, as mmorpg.com have an anti-WoW reputation to keep up, so it must be WoW we're attacking in an EQ2 review.



    All that combined with thist last sentence: "Everquest II is arguably the best mmo out there.",



    I find it harder and harder to take these reviews seriously. If you ask me, these reviews should be taken just as seriously as the ratings on the front page. This is also the very first time I doubt the ubiasedness of the reviewer. Not saying that SOE opened its wallet to pay for a good review, but Its a coincidence that, now that Everquest 2 reaches the top of the raitng, we, by totall coincidence ofcourse, get an Everquest 2 re-review. I have a feeling that this review is either made by an Everquest 2 fan, or its just a tool to keep the community of mmorpg.com happy.
  • ScottAdamsScottAdams Member Posts: 14
    Originally posted by dogsalad


    Few more questions.  Forgive me if I'm a little wary... I vowed to never play another Sony MMO a few years back.
     
    Is the Trial Island an accurate representation of the full game?
    Was the whole game given some artistic upgrades or just the new Faydwer area?
    Do I need to buy the original game and the two expansions to get all the content or does the last expansion come with all the previous content?
    Downtime.  How bad is it?
    I read they added in PvP.  Is it a faction vs. faction world PvP or is it limited to instanced areas?
    What are the three best things in the game?
    What are the three worst things in the game?

     

    1) Play the Fae is moer representative now. But trial of the Isle is great too.

    2) Every expansion since the original game has gotten better and better looking. This is the 3rd expansion and they are at their prime. Original zones have not been updated.

    3) If you buy the Expansion of Faydwer retail box you get the base game and all 3 expansions. Only things you don't get are the 3 (or was it 4?) adventure pakces

    4) Downtime. There is no downtime. You use food and drink to replenish power and health after a fight.

    5) Best things? I love the vast number of zones and things to do. I love the quests and the feeling I am never grinding. I simply do quests and have a blast. I love heritage quests. I love playing with my guild. I love druid teleports and Conjurer's call of the hero. I simply love this game as being the best of all MOGs at present and I have tried allot of them.

    6) worse things? You have to pay to play! If you play more than one SOE mog then all pass costs as much now as 2 subscriptions. I don't play another mog at present so dont use it. I wish there was a true Z axis in game with levitate etc. Fae glide comes close but its not the same. I wish the game was seamless like Vanguard. there are some big giant zones but they are still zones. I also wish there were more druid rings around the world, but in gneral I can get anywhere I want in under 15 minutes now.

    M. Scott Adams, Not Dilbert, Adventure!
    http://www.msadams.com

  • JetrpgJetrpg Member UncommonPosts: 2,347
    I reccently tried eq2 agian witha free trial and i was noithing but disapinted, the graphix are not really that great, not saying wow's are people so cool it. The combat system and just the mechanics of the game are like a throw back to eq1, which i did not think were good at that time also. To review this as things have changed would be rather silly i feel , not looking at a game like DDO  things HAVE changed and thus you coudl re-review and come out with a higher view of the game , but EQ2 has not made any significante game mechanic changes that would make me feel as it has improved.

    "Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one ..." - Thomas Paine

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